Storm brings fender-benders

Townsend firefighters work at the scene of two-car accident that included entrapment at Brookline and Cross streets on Saturday afternoon. COURTESY PHOTO / Eric Fellows

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Heavier than expected snow snarled traffic and caused several accidents throughout the region on Saturday.

As the snowfall picked up about 11 a.m. and intensified through the noon hour, several reports of accidents came into local and state police. Several minor accidents were reported around Fitchburg, including a car that slid into a house at 19 Ashburnham St., breaking a front-screen door but causing little other damage.

Fitchburg Police Sgt. Chuck Siomos said at least 15 accidents occurred in the city between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., but they were mostly fender-benders and cars sliding off roads. More accidents occurred into the evening, according to radio reports, including cars into poles on Rindge Road and Forest Street.

A driver makes his way slowly down a slippery Green Street in Fitchburg on Saturday. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / BRETT CRAWFORD

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"Everything has been pretty minor -- bumps and bruises, dented bumpers, dented fenders. We haven't transported many people (to the hospital) and if we did, it was all minor injuries," said Fitchburg acting Deputy Fire Chief Gregg Normandin. "In most of the accidents, people have refused transport."

At about 5 p.m., a plow slid into a house near the intersection of Heywood and Belmont streets, damaging a gas meter. But Normandin said there were no injuries and no other damage to the house.

"We called for Unitil to come to the scene, they found a small gas leak and are repairing it," Normandin said Saturday evening. "The residents will not be displaced from their house tonight."

Leominster police Sgt.

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John Fraher reported 10 accidents, all without injury. According to radio reports, a car that went into a house at 77 Cedar St. just after 4 p.m. was a minor incident without injuries and without structural damage to the building.

Trooper Phillip McLaine of the Leominster State Police barracks said two accidents occurred on Route 2 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., the first just prior to Exit 37 westbound in Devens and the second near Exit 30 eastbound in Leominster.

A firefighter stands by a home at 19 Ashburnham St., Fitchburg, where a car slid into the house, breaking the front screen door.
SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / Alana Melanson

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He said he believed both to be single-car accidents into the guardrail, and no major injuries were reported.

McLaine said there were also several spinouts and cars going off the road on both the northbound and southbound sides of Interstate 495, mostly between Exits 27 and 29 (Bolton and Boxboro).

According to Twitter and radio reports, two people were trapped in a vehicle after a two-car crash at the intersection of Brookline and Cross streets in Townsend about 11:30 a.m., and the Jaws of Life were required to remove them. According to the reports, three people were sent to the hospital.

According to Alan Dunham, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, a Winter Weather Advisory was in effect for North Central Massachusetts from the morning until 7 p.m. Saturday. Dunham said the region was to receive a total of about 4 to 5 inches of snow.

He said much of the snow the region has been experiencing this year has been much drier due to the extreme cold. But with temperatures Saturday near freezing, Dunham said that snow had a much higher water content and was heavier, with bigger flakes that accumulated faster. The wetter snow, when packed down, can make roads very icy, he said.

Dunham said temperatures in the lower 20s overnight Saturday and mostly cloudy weather should continue into today, with a few glimpses of sunshine and a slight chance of snow flurries. Temperatures will get up into the lower 30s again today and Monday, when the region will see partly sunny skies, he said.

After a week of above-normal temperatures for January, Dunham said Mother Nature will give the region "a slap of reality" when colder air moves in Monday night.

"With temperatures in the low 30s and sunshine (today), you'll still be able to clean up driveways and sidewalks, but if it's not done by Monday afternoon, whatever is left there is going to stay," he said. "People should start planning for this cold snap that's coming in again."

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